


Memories

by seqular (sequential)



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-02 01:07:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10933800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sequential/pseuds/seqular
Summary: Written for the prompt “AU where Stan never got his memories back; Ford deals with it poorly.”





	Memories

Stan… actually doesn’t seem that different than before. He gets along the same with the kids, even though they tear up a couple times when Stan forgets things, and settles into the same easy relationship he had with Soos and Wendy. He swindles a bit less, actually talks to the townsfolk more. Maybe it’s that the shortest relationships are the easiest to rebuild. 

Ford says this aloud, one day, while Stan is reading a postcard from the kids. Stan’s fingers clench on the postcard, and he looks up at Ford, a frown on his face, before turning back to the note.

“What, you’re telling me that we’re not reconnecting because we had somethin’ special?” Stan asks.

Well, he wouldn’t have put it like that, but, “That might be the case. We did have a sixty-year history that would be impossible to recreate—“

“Give or take the years we spent apart, which puts us at somewhere in the teens,” Stan answers, still looking at the card. Ford looks at the card, too, so he doesn’t have to look at Stan. Crayon Dipper and Mabel and several fuzzy cat stickers stare up at them.

“That’s…” as formative for you as the rest of it, he wants to say. It took him until Stan’s memory loss to realize, but he’s pretty sure his absence shaped Stan’s life as much as his presence. He feels it acutely now in the way Stan is turned away and Ford, for once, is left chasing. “… an important stage for personal development. Your childhood years,” he concludes lamely.

“So you let me get kicked out during 'em,” Stan says, standing up from the couch and tucking the postcard in his pocket. Ford rather regrets telling him their entire history. “It can’t have been anything that special.”

No, only stolen kisses on Glass Shard Beach with the smell of salt in the air. Ford grabs Stan by the wrist before he can walk away. Stan turns, and his eyes fix on the hand, his six fingers. Ford lets go as if he’s been burnt. He doesn’t need Stan telling him to feel like a freak.

**Author's Note:**

> Say hi to me on [tumblr](https://angularprism.tumblr.com/) (nsfw)!


End file.
